


Nudge

by frapandfurious



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Everything I Touch Turns to Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 23:39:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9931241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frapandfurious/pseuds/frapandfurious
Summary: Ren would nuzzle softly against Hux's throat or jaw or cheek and every time, without fail, Hux smiled or laughed. For some reason Ren liked that, and so he kept doing it. And Hux kept letting him.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oorsprong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oorsprong/gifts).



> For the wonderful [oorsprong](http://archiveofourown.org/users/oorsprong/pseuds/oorsprong), who asked for nuzzles. <3

It began simply enough. Hux was lounging back against his pillows, datapad in hand, going through his schedule for the next day and enjoying the singular clarity of mind and relaxation of body that the post-coital state granted. Ren was beside him, curled on his side with one arm draped heavily across Hux’s waist.

 

Ren was relaxed in a different way: quiet and sullen, as he often was. Times like this it was in anticipation of the moment Hux decided he had to leave, or, when they met in Ren’s quarters, the moment Ren would decide Hux had to leave. Once every couple of weeks one would stay the night in the other’s quarters, finding some excuse. Never more often than that, lest they shatter the shared delusion that this _thing_ between them wasn’t becoming more than either of them intended.

 

Hux felt the soft puffs of Ren’s breath against his neck and swore he could feel his intense gaze sinking into the skin of his face as Ren watched him. He wondered if Ren could tell he was deliberately taking his time reading the information on the screen, trying to prolong the moment.

 

Hux definitely felt Ren’s growing impatience in his subtle shifts and occasional sighs; if their time was limited, he wanted Hux’s attention on him. Ren hated feeling neglected. Hux had learned that the hard way after playing a little too hard to get once and being hauled out of his desk chair and to the bed. He would have picked a fight over it but they were both too distracted by his sudden and obvious arousal at being manhandled that they quickly moved on to other things.

 

Ren had calmed somewhat since then, trusting Hux more, and Hux had become more attentive.

 

But Ren was still Ren and he always made it clear when he wanted something.

 

The first brush against Hux’s neck could have been deemed an accident. The second, however, was definitely intentional.

 

Ren's nose prodded gently at the underside of Hux's jaw. Hux tried in vain not to be distracted by the sensation. He managed to make a couple more notes before it happened again, a gentle bump followed by a soft - there was no other word for it - _nuzzle_.

 

Before he knew it a startled laugh slipped from Hux's mouth. He clamped it shut but it was too late, Ren had heard it. Hux felt Ren's chin settle on his shoulder and, as if pulled by a magnet, turned to meet his gaze.

 

A mistake.

 

Ren's eyes were a mix of mildly amused and pleading, and it was too enticing for Hux to resist any longer. Ren saw the moment he'd won on Hux’s face and his warm brown eyes crinkled happily. Hux sighed as he set aside his datapad and rolled over to loop his arms around Ren and sink his fingers into his hair. It was therapeutic, he decided, good for his health, and he needed to be at peak health to best perform his duties.

 

*

 

A week later it happened again. Hux was standing at the viewport in his quarters, looking out at the vast galaxy that still felt much too far away from order, when he heard the slide of his doors open and shut and felt the familiar dark presence of his co-commander-slash-bedmate.

 

He didn't move. He wasn't really in the mood tonight but he'd probably indulge Ren anyway, out of a deeply buried fear that if he wasn't a suitable partner Ren would find another. Surely it would be easy enough for him.

 

Behind him, Ren removed pieces of his complicated outfit one by one until he wore just a snug black undershirt and tights. He slid gracefully up against Hux's back and settled large hands on his waist. Hux shuddered; it felt too kriffing _good_. Perhaps he could be in the mood tonight after all. Ren had that sort of effect on him.

 

Rather than turn him around and push him against the glass, or grab his face and pull it in for a kiss, Ren tipped his head downward and moved his nose up and down along the dip of Hux's jaw just under his earlobe. Slowly, Hux began to smile. It felt strange, unnatural, but action made his lips turn up of their own accord and here in the privacy of his quarters he didn't bother to stop them. 

 

"What in the galaxy are you doing?" The words came out so much more fond than he intended.

 

Ren shrugged.

 

"You seemed to like it last time," he rumbled in Hux’s ear. He continued gently nuzzling his cheek.

 

Hux scoffed.

 

"Why would I like being jabbed at by your ridiculous nose?"

 

Ren froze, the tip of his nose just grazing Hux's high cheekbone. Hux felt anxiety churn in his stomach at the thought that he might have actually upset Ren. For a fleeting moment he wished he wasn't like _this_ , that he could tell Ren how actually he liked his nose, and the rest of his face, quite a lot. More than he should.

 

Instead he turned his head a little and pressed a kiss to the bridge of said nose; it was as apologetic as he got.

 

Luckily, Ren took that as encouragement, pressing his face close to nuzzle with more vigor. Hux laughed and pushed at his shoulders.

 

"It makes you laugh," Ren observed aloud as he stepped back. "I've never heard you laugh before."

 

"What? Nonsense. I laugh."

 

"Snorting at your datapad when you find out one of your Academy rivals has been demoted doesn't count."

 

Hux didn't dignify that with a response. Instead he walked backwards, tugging Ren along until they fell onto the bed together.

 

*

 

It became yet another of the many quirks of their strange relationship. (Hux felt justified in calling it that - a relationship could be anything: coworkers, friends, fuck buddies. It didn't have to mean a thing.)

 

Lying in bed together was when it happened most, when they were relaxed and their inhibitions lowered. Ren would nuzzle softly against Hux's throat or jaw or cheek and every time, without fail, Hux smiled or laughed. For some reason Ren liked that, and so he kept doing it. And Hux kept letting him, because when he smiled or laughed Ren would sit up and stare at his face like he'd just unlocked the secrets of the universe. No one had ever looked at him that way before. It planted something in his chest and that something grew as time went on, wrapping around his heart like vines.

 

*

 

Somehow, with his life's work reduced to ash and his ship in chaos, there was little to do. The system he had helped to build was so efficient that, even after the _colossal failure_ that was the Resistance taking out Starkiller Base, it mostly ran itself, protocol kicking in where human judgment failed.

 

So, after issuing orders and ensuring that everything was running as it should, Hux found himself with time on his hands. Normally that would drive him to micromanage to kill the gnawing feeling that he wasn't being productive enough. But that day he had somewhere important he needed to be: by Ren's side.

 

Ren was unconscious but stable, bandages and bacta at work. After watching his eyes roll back and his body go limp mere seconds before getting him onto the rescue shuttle, Hux could only feel sure he was alright if he saw it with his own eyes.

 

Hux entered the private room, set the entry controls so that personnel and droid had to request permission to enter, then hung his coat up and plopped heavily into the chair beside the bed.

 

His eyes scanned over Ren's prone form. First his chest, to make sure it still rose and fell as it should, then his bandaged side to make sure it was secure and no longer bleeding. Then finally his face, which would be forever scarred, and yet Hux knew with certainty that he would still like it as much as he always had. Perhaps more.

 

Once he'd completed his assessment Hux sighed, the exhaustion of the day catching up with him all at once. The section of pillow beside Ren's head looked so inviting; surely there was no harm in resting his head a moment? He'd hear his datapad beep or the comm at the door if someone requested entry.

 

He shifted the chair as close as it would go and leaned so that his head and one shoulder rested on the pillow. It was awkward, but he didn't want to climb fully into the bed and risk jostling Ren.

 

He just needed to close his eyes, just for a moment...

 

Hux drifted in darkness for an indeterminate period of time, not fully asleep but not quite awake either. Then he felt it. Something against his cheek, cold but soft and gentle. Then again, firmer. In his drowsiness he couldn't figure out whether to press into the sensation or pull away.

 

"Hux?"

 

His eyes cracked open at the sound of the weak but familiar voice. He felt the little nudge again, ghosting over his nose and cheek.

 

"Hux."

 

"Ren? You're awake."

 

"Yes." Ren sounded tired. "So are you."

 

It was then that Hux realized that the thing he'd been feeling was Ren nuzzling his face gently to wake him, the only way he could with his limited range of motion at the moment.

 

Emotion flooded his chest and his eyes burned. He swallowed hard.

 

"You're okay?"

 

"I'm...alive."

 

Hux knew firsthand that they were far from the same thing.

 

"Do you need anything?"

 

"No." A pause. "Stay?"

 

"...alright."

 

With some effort Ren shifted over on the bed. Hux took the hint and slid his narrow frame into the open space. They didn't touch, but Hux could feel every breath and shift of the man beside him. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling as though he'd aged years in a single day.

 

After a few long moments, he felt it again: Ren's nose, this time against his neck, nuzzling back and forth. He grumbled and opened his eyes.

 

Nothing could have prepared him for the look on Ren's face. How could one person look so many ways at once? It was...sad, defeated, and hesitant. And it was searching, seeking out something from Hux.

 

When he didn't find whatever it was, he did it again, his nose and forehead rubbing softly at Hux's neck. Hux huffed and tried to ease him back.

 

"Careful, Ren, you'll open the cut on your face."

 

Ren frowned and gave one last halfhearted brush against Hux's jaw.

 

As his warm breath tickled the skin of Hux's neck he suddenly understood what Ren was asking of him. Whatever had been holding back the tide of his feelings all these months finally snapped.

 

"Kylo," he whispered. 'Ren' felt too distant, too impersonal. Part of what they once were, not what they were capable of becoming.

 

Kylo looked up and their eyes met. It took effort, but Hux turned up the corners of his mouth up and managed a small smile for him. He'd never cared much for the Force, yet he found himself asking it to let this be enough to begin to heal the broken man beside him.

 

It must have done _something_ because Kylo immediately relaxed. The gash on his face prevented him from returning the smile, but to Hux's relief his expression held a bright glimmer of something very _Kylo_ simmering beneath the surface, which hadn't been there a moment ago.  


Hux scooted as close as he could and cupped one hand around the back of Kylo's head. He pressed a kiss to his forehead and Kylo's eyes fluttered shut.

 

"When you're released, you'll be staying with me, until..." he stopped short. He didn't want to think about where they were headed. "You’ll be staying with me. That's non-negotiable. Understand?"

 

Kylo answered with a little nod against his neck. As his – his _lover_ fell asleep in his arms, Hux moved his face to the top of his head and nuzzled into the mussed hair. He felt silly, but it was worth it for the content little hum, and he would do it again in a heartbeat.

**Author's Note:**

> visit me on [tumblr](http://obsessions-and-dreams.tumblr.com/) !


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